Rep. Littlefield pulls out of election

By ERIN SULLIVAN
Published September 20, 2006

After several days of mulling, state Rep. Ken Littlefield announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election to his House District 61 seat.

His decision was a tough one, he said - though it really made no difference because he would have resigned after the election anyway. On Sept. 13, Littlefield got a call from Gov. Jeb Bush telling him that he had been appointed to a spot on the Florida Public Service Commission.

After accepting the governor's appointment, Littlefield had two choices:

He could stay in the race and then resign, forcing a special election, or he could pull out of the race before the election, leaving the choice of nominee to a handful of GOP bigwigs.

In the end, he said, he decided to pull out now because he didn't want his replacement to miss the freshman orientation, office and committee assignments, and other get-to-know-your-job events offered at the beginning of the House session.

"When it comes right down to it, I want the new representative to have all the benefits available to be able to perform (his or her) job," said Littlefield, who won his seat in a special election in 1999.